A prayer for every day

Prayer is speaking to God, either audibly or in your head. To make any sense you have to believe that God is listening to you and will answer, maybe not immediately. We cannot impose our wishes on God but should try to find out what he wants us to do in a given situation. If you do not believe in God and yet find yourself praying to him in a difficult situation, maybe you believe in him more than you realised. I hope my prayers for every day, on this page, will be a help to many people.

It's a very good idea to jot down the things you pray about in a prayer journal. It is so easy to take it for granted when you have an answer to prayer. If you keep a journal you can look back over the months and see when your prayers have been answered. This is such an encouragement. We sometimes don't realise we have had an answer because it has come in a strange way, not quite what we expected, but with a journal to remind you, you can pick up on those unusual answers. Once you've found these answers it is time to say ,"Thank you," to God. Answers can take a long time. That's because we are stuck in time, but God is in eternity. I prayed once to be friends with someone who was in trouble, it took about thirty years before that prayer was answered.

Hello God, are you there? I hope so because I need your help. Things are not going well with me and I don't know how to cope. Are you there God, I'm not sure? I hope you are because I've tried everything else and nothing has worked. I know it's partly because I've made a mess of things. I don't know where else to turn. Well that's it really, I'll have to leave it to you now. My Mum always used to ask you for help and I know she found it helpful, so please help me too? I know I haven't been to you before but I really need your help. Amen

Lord, thank you for all the beautiful things in life. For roses and dogs, cats and elephants. You made them all. I'm a bit confused about how you made them. Some tell me that you made them literally in seven days and some talk of millions of years. All I know is Lord that you are so great you could have done it either way. There are more important things to think about, like being kind to my neighbour. But I know you did make them and they are splendid, just like the mountains and the sea. You gave us a beautiful world, it's a pity we don't look after it better. Help us to change our ways. We should be working for a fairer world and working to build our communities on fairness and kindness. Lord it is easy to pray these things please give us the power from you to do something about it. Amen

Lord, my prayer at the beginning of this day is for strength for the challenges of today. I have learnt over a long life to leave tomorrow safely in your hands. Today's worries will be enough for me to think about. So please give me strength for today. I pray this also for others. May the one facing more chemotherapy just rest in you and bring their hopes to you and commit their lives to you. You are the God who heals, often you use man's clever discoveries of treatment to be the healing, but originally it comes from you.

May the soldier in Afghanistan have you beside him this day for him to lean upon in the midst of war and fear. May some good come from his sacrifice. May his family and friends bring their worries to you and rest in your love whatever the outcome. Life is stranger than we realize and death is not the final word. Our suffering is but a growing pain and from this cocoon we will struggle out into the sunshine free as a beautiful butterfly into your kingdom of love.

Thank you Lord through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Amen

O Lord, you know I love my husband, haven't we been together more than fifty years. I just don't know how to carry on. This Alzheimers is a cruel thing. He isn't like my dear John any more. He asks me what day it is over and over. Lord why do you allow all these awful things to happen to us? What is the point of it? The preacher talks of the butterfly having to struggle out of its cocoon and it mustn't be helped or it will die. I would say "That's all very well for him to say." But I have to remember his wife died of cancer, so he knows about suffering too. Also Lord I realise that Jesus died on the cross so you know about suffering too. But then its all very well for you, you knew he would rise again. But wait a minute, is it that simple or were you taking a big risk when he died? I feel much better now I've got that off my chest. Perhaps I can go on another day patiently looking after John. Amen.

O Lord, I thought this was meant to be a day of rest. I've had such a busy day with three services to attend, but then you know all about that you were there. And you are here now Lord, with me at the end of the day. I enjoyed leading the service this morning Lord. I tried to speak your thoughts Lord and not my own. I want others to know your love for them at least as well as I know your love for me. Your love is wonderful it doesn't depend on what we have done and how good we have been. I would certainly be in trouble if it did. Your love is shown to us in your giving Jesus to live for us and die for us, putting us right with you. Now I can enjoy your presence with me right here in my home. I can feel your blessing wash over me. We can talk together about things I can say to no one else. The Almighty God condescending to listen to me and yet not making me feel you are condescending; I just feel the warmth of me the child snuggled up in a Father's arms. Amen

Just like my poetry lenses below and my Thought for each day lens below this lens will grow as the days pass. As much as possible I will try to keep my prayers simple and personal and I hope approachable, both for those who already pray and especially for those who are new to the experience

Lord, when morning came you were there to lead me into the day. You were with me each step I took and you are still with me at the cool eventide. So are you with us through life itself guarding each step even when we are far from you; still you are near to us ready to catch us when we fall and breathe your loving forgiveness into us. Tenderly you watch over us when we are intent on escaping from your view. Never giving up on us, making all of life lead back to where we are face to face with you once more.The myriad twists and turns of our tortuous path finally drawn to the lodestone of your love. Your irrisistible grace our Saviour. Amen

Lord I'm coming to you to tell you about Katie. She is my friend's daughter amd her husband has just been killed in Afghanistan. But then Lord you know that, but I need to say it. The wedding last year was beautiful and they were so happy together. Now that is the beautiful past and now she has to live the awful present. I know Lord that you care but I don't know how to help Katie for the best. All she can feel at the moment is numbing grief. She can see no future. She will not have his children now, nor stand beside him in old age. Beautiful dreams have turned to ashes. What can I do to help. Praying seems such a futile thing now. I have sat with her and cried with her. It is not the time to talk of your love when she feels bereft of it. I have to be your love to her. We have to go at her pace, do the things she can cope with doing until the numbness wears thinner and she can hold him in her memory less painfully. Help me to be sensitive to what she needs. Amen.

Lord, I'm hear again to talk with you, but I feel as if there are people listening in, and so I pray for them Lord. The ones who know you and are reading sympathetically. The ones who wonder what I am doing, who just don't understand. The ones who are completely against it and think it so much tosh. Lord, draw people to yourself. There is no-one who loves people like you do. You want to fold them in your loving care and bring them through all their troubles into your kingdom of light, the only kingdom of light there is. You suffered for us yourself in Jesus, sharing our agony and pain; in fact, feeling its degradation as no human feels it, for you dragged your perfection through the mire of our sin to rescue us. Such love brings back from our hearts more love than we thought we were capable of. Bring your people into your love Lord. Amen.

Thank you Lord, for glorious summer days. The morning and the evening cool and refreshing. The day bright on the rolling hills. Thank you that I live in the countryside and please bless those who live in the cities. May they enjoy the parks with the flowers all in rows, while I enjoy the cottage gardens and the luscious hedgerows. The trees are splendidly crowned with full leaf and rove upon the hills, bordering the fields. Thank you for such beauty. Amen

Thank you Lord, for making a beautiful summer day, with a cooling breeze to stop it being oppressive. Thank you for the canal which we strolled along, with cousins we do not meet often. How good to experience friendship with family. Thank you for how we shared about our common background and remembered the previous generation, no longer with us. On the canal we saw baby coots and an adult moorhen, so good to see the things you created Lord. The bulrushes beginning to flower and the canal side gardens in bloom and a narrow boat in the water. You gave us a beautiful day, Lord for our meeting together. Thank you, Lord for the photos to remind us of this day.Amen

Lord, you know all things, you know the reason for all things. You know why this slaughter happened in Cumbria, as why it happens now and again in various places. There is something in us all that can be triggered by circumstance. We don't like to think we could do it too. But this is why Jesus came for us and suffered a cruel death at the hands of quite ordinary men who were just doing their duty, the roman soldiers. You came so that we could be cleansed of this thing, rescued from it. Your love meant giving your son for us. He is the only one who can rescue us from ourselves. Thank you Lord. Bless those in Cumbria who are injured and traumatised by these events. May they feel your love and comfort. Amen.

Lord it's been a wonderful day, full to the brim and I thank you for it ; but now I'm so tired and I can hardly think what to say to you. Is it alright if I just sit here and listen for your voice?

"Yes my child, listening is good."

Lord you are so big, I cannot fathom how mighty you are, but I'm still going to go on trying. To feel the nearness of you in my whole being is more wonderful than anything. Your awesomeness would frighten me if I did not know you as Jesus. I am just a little speck on the dot which is earth and yet you the everliving, vast one, you care about me, and all the other little specks on this dot of a world. Help me learn a little about you each day and with this wisdom help me to help my brothers and sisters. Amen

Lord God, we do so much that spoils your beautiful world. Please forgive us and show us ways to look after this earth. Please give skill to the engineers in the Gulf of Mexico, so that the massive oil spill will be stopped. Already so much damage has been done. Nearly always it is our greed that makes us do these things; greed for money, power and position. What fools we are wanting these things of such little worth. We would find so much more in serving others, giving and humility. Forgive us and wake us up to the true things. Amen

Lord, how do you put up with me wittering on at you all day? You must find it tedious when I say the same old things about the same old mistakes. I expect you think it is time I learned my lesson; time I knew that things will go wrong if I go on the same old way. You are so patient, it is amazing. You wait for me to discover things for myself; to realise I need to go your way and not keep stubbornly going my way, the way I now know won't lead to happiness. and you are always there at the end of a prayer waiting for me to speak. More ready to hear than I am to pray. Thank you Lord.

For evening calm after the rush of the day, thank you Lord. For peace after hurry, thank you Lord. For time to reflect now the day is gone, maybe to regret, maybe to cherish the memory, for all that has been in this day, thank you Lord. For misunderstandings smoothed over, for mutual agreement enjoyed, for all, though we may not understand it, for all we thank you O Lord. Amen

I come to you O Lord my God to pray for those in pain. May they find relief, but most of all may they know Your love for them, even in this pain, which we all so much dread. May we learn from their patient endurance and be ever grateful when we are free of pain. May we not waste time fearing pain ourselves, but enjoy the health we have whilst not forgetting those who suffer it. May we offer them our love and a helping hand each day. Amen

Lord, you have made me strong and fast, help me to play my best. Make me a good team member wanting the team to win and not just for me to have the limelight. Make me swift to tackle but not to foul. May I run like the wind and swerve with agility. And when I fail may I accept it and move on. Be like the ball and bounce back. Never let me forget that You Lord are with me, my life in your hands whatever happens.

Thank you for today Lord. I thought I was going to church this morning, but you had other plans. My friend had toothache and needed to be taken to the city to get treatment. Loving one's neighbour is more important to you Lord than attending a service and leaving her to take herself. You always said you preferred justice to sacrifices. So thank you that I was able to serve you in this way Lord by serving my friend. Lead me to do your will Lord, as it really is and not as we sometimes think it should be. Amen

Lord, I sorely need your help for I am tempted and do not know how to resist. It is no good me swearing I will do your will for I have no strength to see that through and so I plead with you to keep me from this harm. May the strength of my feelings be turned to determination not to do wrong which would only hurt the one I have these strong feelings for. I have been here before Lord and know the harm it does, keep me from this wrong, keep me in your will. Amen

Lord God thank you for a bright new day filled with so many possibilities. I do not know what will come my way this day, but from past experience I know you will be with me whatever I meet with. I will not fret and worry, for you are with me. I will walk boldly through the day knowing that you are with me and although things may get tough, you will bring me through. Today I may enter a dark phase of my life, but you will be with me and give me your light. I praise you for your utter faithfulness. Amen

Lord, I'm going bowling this afternoon, but of course, you know that. I don't ask to win the game, that would be cheating. What I ask for is to be relaxed and play my best and support the other membeers of the team. Much more can be learned from losing than winning. After all this is a game of skill where we can enjoy our play when it is skilful, but learn how fallible we are when we hit the block or go off the side of the mat.

I hope you don't mind me praying about such a trivial thing, Lord. It is not earth shattering I know, but I also know you are interested in everything about us and you are so great and have the energy to listen to all our prayers. Amen.

O Lord, the wonder of your creation. How wonderful you must be to have made such beautiful places, to have planned that the chaos of wind and rain and running water should sculpt out such a wonderful place. A place where we can escape from the cities and the towns and experience the serenity of the great outdoors. You give us so many good things, may we also strive to make life better for those who do not have what we have. Amen

Lord, help me to keep things in perspective, to realise that the people I love are more important than the things I own. It is no good giving my family more and more things, by working longer and longer hours, when what they really need is my company and my attention. Possessions can never give love and true happiness, but companionship can. May I not neglect to spend time in your company, Lord; the most wonderful company of all. May I also by example show my family that they too can have this wonderful company with you, the maker of us all. Amen

Lord when we are enjoying good health, feeling so strong and capable, we tend indeed to forget that it is your gift. It takes a little ailment to remind us that we depend on you for everything. We make such a fuss about a cold or a headache which are like mere pinpricks when they are gone. Help us to help those who really suffer with ill-health and thank you for those reminders that we depend on you. Amen

Lord, keep me from being pompous, full of my own knowledge, trying to impress. I want to take your love to people, not to impress them with myself. Let me always remember the mistakes I have made and with them encourage others to trust in you too, knowing they will be accepted as I have been. Let me never forget the mistakes. Amen.

For a pleasant day with a glorious sun, for breezes fresh and a day's work done
We thank you Lord
For pleasures enjoyed and friendly fun, for games we have played, lost or won
We thank you Lord.
For knowing you and your dear Son, for strength for the race today we have run,
We thank you Lord.

Thank you Lord for all my friends. Thank you for their happy smiles. Thank you for the times they speak out when I am wrong. Thank you for when they but up with my bad mood. Thank you for the times when we are absolutely in tune. Thank you that you are always here beside me when sometimes they cannot be. Thank you for the ones that know you and share my beliefs. Thank you too for the the ones who do not share my beliefs and yet put up with my funny little ways and love me just the same. Thank you Lord for friends of every shape and size, long may we live in harmony. Amen

Lord, why is life so difficult sometimes? In the past my life was difficult. I thank you that now it is very pleasant. But what of others who are coping with terrible loss. How can I help them? I must be a listening ear for them. Make me patient to listen and not to be taken up with my own concerns. May I be slow to give an answer, so that they have time to find their own answer. Their own answer will fit their needs so much better than mine. In their answer may they find your answer Lord. Amen

The day has been full of rush and hurry. Now I come to the cool of the evening and meet with you Lord. You have, of course, been with me all day but I have not been as aware of you as I should be. Thank you for your care throughout the day. Thank you for the calm of my home now, the home you have given me. I am content in my home alone with you; that is no loneliness at all, just a comfortable solitude. I am free to spend time with you, no longer made busy by family life. My children are grown my work for them no longer time consuming. Now I can contemplate my God and enjoy him forever. Amen.

Thank you Lord for the Bible. We can read it ourselves in our own language and not have to depend on someone else to tell us what it means. We can read it in a quiet moment and find all sorts of wonderful things about you. Your Spirit is with us and tells us what it means. We don't have to listen to a person who might lead us astray along their own little path. We can ask you directly and listen for your answer. Of course there are good people who keep close to you and they can help us when we are struggling to understand. But always there is the chance to get alone with you Lord and hear your voice. Thank you Lord for the Bible.

O Lord, you have given us the most wonderful summer weather in the past three weeks. Truly we are grateful, we do love it, but Lord the fields need rain to make the grass grow to feed the animals. We know you understand and you provide all that is good for us. We know you will bring the rain when the time is right. But could we just mention, we would like it to clear up again so that we can enjoy the sun some more. Only sometimes when the rain comes it doesn't know when to stop, but we will need sun for harvest too. We know you understand, we leave it with you. Amen

The day began quietly Lord, with time to bring the day to you. Thank you for that moment of peace. Then I travelled a while to play the piano for a morning meeting of seven elderly folk. We had good peace together. Thank you Lord. Then I rushed off to lunch to say "Goodbye" to a retiring minister and a lady moving away. We had good food and good fellowship there. thank you Lord. Then off to a meeting to hear a prison chaplain speak of his work. Thank you Lord for an insight into how terrible some people's lives can be and that there you are at work in your love. Then evening service where I played the organ, again for a small number. Thank you Lord for these little groups trying to follow you. Make us strong in you so that we can shine your light into a dark world and help others to find you too. Finally home to solitude and the chance to reflect on all you have taken me to today. May I have done your bidding. Amen.

Have you ever heard of a problem someone has had, which is now over and wished you had known sooner so that you could have prayed for them? Well I believe it is fine to pray about it right then, after the event. Why? Because God is not caught in time as we are. He is eternal. He knows what you wanted to pray before you thought it. So never be afraid to be a part of the praying for someone even after the event has happened.

Thank you Lord for the glowing hue of a full blown rose. For the scent it sends forth to my grateful nose. How wonderful your creation is in all its variety. Everything you have made is a small token of your wonderfulness, your beauty and your power. Such finesse you display before us. Keep us from walking around with our eyes turned away from your beauty, not realizing your splendour. May our eyes always be wide open to receive your light. Amen

When days are grim help me to know that you are still with me. You promised never to leave me. I've prooved it's true. Even when we wander from the path you still stay right with us and you will lead us back into the right way. Your love is not a wavering love like ours, your love is steadfast, unwavering love. You never give up on us. Thank you Lord. Amen

My prayer is for the sad and lonely, struggling with life, finding it an uphill battle. May kindly souls be sent to help them as they struggle to help themselves. May they find they are not alone. May hope spring up in their hearts. May this be so for those who have had a difficult start in life, not surrounded by love and affection. May those who have had it easy in life realize how blessed they are and turn to help those in need. Amen

Thank you Lord that life is so fulfilling for me now, as I try to spread your love to others. You bless me each day. Thank you that prayer is for saying thank you and not always to be asking. But I do ask that others might find this fulfillment. I have known dark days in the past. I know what it is like to feel that you are not listening. Those are indeed dark days for we need the light that only comes from you. But you are listening and working for our good even in what seems like the bad days for us. As someone once said our life is like a beautiful piece of embroidery but at the moment we can only see it from the wrong side where all the knots and ends show up. I think I must be at a place where the great embroiderer has turned back the embroidery so that I am seeing just a corner of the grand design. That's how good life is for me at the moment. Indeed thank you Lord. Amen

Lord how foolish we are. We trap ourselves in with rules and regulations, when you want to give us freedom in Jesus. We want to struggle, you want us to give up the fight and rest in your love. When will we realize we can't please you by trying in our own strength? Always we want to proove we can do it, but we always fail. Even then you don't give up on us. Thank you for your ongoing love in the face of our turning from you. Continue to forgive us. Amen

Lord we come to you knowing you to be the source of all good things. This week we have had glorious sunny weather which cheers us up so much. You are the one who invented the sunny day and you did it because you love us so much. You also give us the rain we need for our fields and our gardens. We worship and praise you for these things. You give us families in which to live. You give us homes. You give us food to sustain us. For all these things we worship you. But the greatest gift you have given us is your son Jesus who came to die for us so that we might freely be given your forgiveness. We worship you now and come before you to confess our sin. You are perfect in all your ways Lord, we often go astray. In a moment of silence we bring you those things about ourselves that worry us, those things which we have done wrong in thought ,word and deed.
SILENCE
Lord, you have promised that if we confess our sin to you, you will forgive us. We joyfully accept that forgiveness now.
Let's say together the Prayer Jesus taught his disciples.

Our father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name,Thy kingdom come.Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever Amen.

Thankyou Lord for all the blessings in my life. My family, my friends, my flat, my car. Thank you too for the difficult times in life which have taught me so much. There were times when I was so low I could not feel your presence with me. Past hope yet you gave me hope to cling on to you. Your ways are best, in the hard times you teach us so much and train us in a way that we are able to help others when they suffer. Always your way is best. Amen.

Dear Lord, thank you that every day each step of the way you are with us. In sunshine or rain you live alongside us. You never desert us. Just as you trudged the Galileean roads so you still walk with us. When we cry out you hear us. When we are all alone you are still with us and you bring us out of trouble into the companionship of friends. We can look back through our lives and see your hand at work, although we could not see it at the time. We may have been through truly terrible times but now we are here and you are still with us. Still caring, still watching over us. Thank you. Amen.

Lord bless my friends and my enemies too
Help me to love them as you do.
Bless them with good gifts, not endless wealth
Not always happiness or even full health.
For a surfeit of these things can weigh them down
While experiencing problems can be a blessed crown.
For character comes in the furnace of trial,
Prepare us all to walk a long mile.
So bless us all Lord with your wisdom and love,
Always guiding us from above.

Dear Lord it's the end of another day. Thank you for your care and guidance throughout it. The times when you urged me on to do good, the times when you held me back from harm. I was not always aware that you werre with me, but you were always aware of me and my needs. How do you manage it Lord when you have so many people to care for? Knowing how you care for so many makes me realise a little just how great you are. I worship you, I love you. You accept my love because Jesus has made me acceptable. I never want to try to make myself acceptable on my own, I know I cannot do it. I will rest in what Jesus has done for me. How strange it is that we want to please you in our own right when all the time you have made the completely free way for us to come. Forgive our folly Lord and lead us in your way. Amen

Dear Lord many people have trusted you in the past as well as in the present. Thak you that you have always been faithful in caring for us, even in the dark and difficult days. You were with Joseph when his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt and even as things seemed to get progressively worse for him, you were there keeping him safe and preparing him to save the lives of those who had sold him. so you will be with us. We can trust you when life is difficult to bring us through to better days. thank you Amen

See below for more of Joseph's story.

Lord, we thank you for colour in all its amazing variety. The gentle blue of the azure sky, the green of the fields around. The myriad greens of the trees. The red roses from pink to vermillion. You obviously like variety in colour as you do in people because we are all so different in our natures, Some sunny ,some serious but all precious to you Lord. Sometimes when some colours are too zingy for us you give us gentle beiges and creams. There is a colour for every occasion. How good you are to us Lord. Amen (What does Amen mean? It means "Yes! I agree with that.")

Dear Lord, today I pray for all lost souls. There are those who have had terrible childhoods and difficult lives and not been able to recover and everyone knows they are lost and yet may be they are closer to you than anyone knows, because they are not filled with pride. There are souls who seem to have got their lives sorted and yet they are more lost than the alcoholic, more lost than the fallen woman. Why? Because they think they have everything sorted but they have not considered your claim on their life. Without you we are all lost. We have a God-shaped hole in our lives which only you can fill. Until you fill that hole there is emptiness at our very core. So when we pray for the lost we must pray for ourselves first. Be at the centre of my life Lord. Amen

For links to views of how to think about the fallen woman and the drunk see below.

Dear Lord, I believe you have called me to preach to your people. Lord, please equip me to do this well. May I take your message to your people. Not my message concocted to suit myself, but your message, a message that comes to me, for me as well as to the people in church. A message to the point and that does not ramble and leave my people floundering, unable to understand my meaning. Most of all keep me from being long-winded. May my preaching not stop with those in church, but may it include all I meet. A tender, gentle preaching mostly of actions and only a few words. Giving a loving heart for all I meet, that shows your love for them. Amen

Lord, I tried to give your message of life to your people. Please bless them as they go about their normal weekly routine. May they be strengthened to do your will, to take your message of love to their neighbours and friends. You tell us to spread your love, strengthen us to do just that. Some will face difficult times this week, may they lean on you and rest in you knowing you are always available to them each step of the way. May we gain strength from contemplating your word each day. Be with us Lord. Amen

O Lord, It's me again. Why do I get so full of my own importance? Forgive me, help me to see that my opinion is not always needed. Help me to draw back from the general argument about things, which have no bearing on what is really important in life. That one thing Lord, is you. But caring about you and what is important to you is all about caring for other people. Not to squash them with our pithy rhetoric, but to build them up and show them a better way, the way that leads to you and true love for all. Forgive me for trampling over people just because I do not see things their way. May I be tender and caring, not crushing and breaking up. May your love grow in my heart, Amen

Thank you Lord for the rain. We are so blessed in Britain with a climate of variety and abundant rain, to make the crops grow and the grass to feed the animals. Help us to remember the people who are not so blessed and may we give what we can to help them too. Forgive us Lord for the times we grumble because the rain is not convenient. How bad this is of us when others would love our rain on their crops. We are so selfish in our attitudes. We should be so thankful to you for all you give us. Change our selfish hearts to ones that think of others and always praise you. Amen

Lord, you know I have this cold, I've spent the day in bed. It's nothing much I'm just making a fuss. But it does serve to remind me of those who are really suffering with illness. Young Mum's with life threatening illness, so worried about who will care for their children. Young men who have provided well for their families and now they face the possibility of leaving them. Lord, you care for each one and just want them to put their trust in you. You can heal, but sometimes there is a higher purpose we do not realise. If we can just rest in you even death cannot defeat us. Amen

Lord, I don't know how you put up with me. I have such petty things to tell you. Help me to see the wider picture and learn what I can do to help those around me. My little worries get in the way of following your will for me. Show me a better way forward. Amen

Dear Lord, earlier I was saying a little prayer of thanks to you for how pleasant my life is. I was thanking you for peace in reading my newspaper, eating chocolate and watching the TV. And my family only a phone call away. Then immediately the doorbell rang and there was my daughter and her fiance come to visit. What a lovely surprise. I must remember to thank you more often. Amen.

Thank you Lord that all things are in your control. Thank you that even a little illness brings a time of quiet and resting so that we are ready to fight the fight again another time. Thank you that, because I was unwell, my sermon preparation meant that more of you than me, crept into the sermon and others were consequently blessed.Your ways are wonderful. Amen.

Thank you Lord for the Bible with its stories of so many different people. People struggling to find you. People like us full of doubts but still searching. By your Spirit help us to understand and to believe. May we not neglect the Bible when it is full of such wisdom about life. May we make every effort to read it and learn the good things in it which will make our lives so much better. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Take a look at the Bible stories I have retold. There is one below and you can find the rest from that one.

Lord, help me always to put people first, to give them time to speak their own thoughts, and not to stuff my opinions down their throat. Contrary to my popular belief I do not have all the answers and I can certainly still learn from others. People before things. People before Farmville!! All those things that clamour for my attention must be kept in place and allow people to come to the fore in my life. Thank you Jesus for your example in always putting people first. Amen.

Thank you Lord that you have always provided everything I have ever needed. How strange that I still fret and worry about what I will need next. Will I never learn to trust? You have my whole life in your care. Difficult things may happen to me but you have it all in your control and even death you will make to my advantage and it will come at the right time, the time that you decide. What peace comes from this. Life is a grand adventure that unfolds new each day. We do not know what will come next but if we trust you we can move into the future with confidence.Thank you wonderful friend. Amen.

Dear Lord, help me to realise that the best plans are the ones you make for me. You have said in the Bible that you have good plans for us to do us good. The problem starts when we struggle against those plans and try to go a different way. What fools we are. You are the loving heavenly Father and know what will suit us best. If we will just commit ourselves to your care you will take us the best way. Even difficulties will be for our best interests. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Thank you Lord that you are with me when other people don't want to be. I had my head in a bucket making strange sounds, but you were there. When I crawled into bed feeling weak, you were there. It's great to have your company all the time when even the best friend can't be around. Help me to tell other people how great it is to have your company and that they can find you too. Amen.

Thank you for healing me Lord. You have been healing me all through my life. When we get to death we will find it is the final healing, final and complete. How wonderful your love is most holy God. Amen.

Thank you Lord God that you sent Jesus to die for us, so that all the wrong things about us can be forgiven, if we just accept what you have freely done for us. No more struggling to put ourselves right but just accepting what Jesus has done for us. what a relief that what we cannot put right ourselves has been put right by Jesus. your love is wonderful. Amen.

Thank you Lord for friends. Thank you for a special friend to spend the day with. For being able to spend time by the quiet of the sea, after a busy day. To be able to share the joy of buying clothes. You have given me so much, not just in material things, but so,so much more in knowing you. How wonderful that a little known lady from the rural depths of England is friends with the Almighty God. This is not something I can claim as my right but is given me in Jesus because he came and died. Oh that many more should know this all surpassing joy. Amen.

Dear Lord, help me to speak about you in simple language that anyone can understand. Keep me from using high faluting language that only those steeped in church can get to grips with. We are supposed to be spreading the Good News, not keeping it to our own little clique. You told us to go out with the Good News and not expect the harvest to come to us. Lead us out Lord for the people are waiting and hungry. Amen

Lord in the stillness I find you. The air whispers in my ears and the clock ticks relentlessly on, but here in the stillness I find a thread of eternity holding out to me the possibility of communing with you. I feel you come closer, but no, you were already here, it is just that now in the stillness I have become more aware of you.I should do this more often, find the stillness that makes me aware of you. So many things call for my attention, but here in the stillness is where I find the strength to continue. Still, still, still.

Another day has passed and I must sleep to regain strength for tomorrow. Lord prepare me for whatever you have planned for me. Help me remember that it is all planned by you and even when I cannot understand it you are still in control and loving me. Help me to do good things tomorrow, to love you and to love those around me. Amen

Thank you Lord for the many times I experience success. May I always remember that it comes from you and may I be as grateful for failure, because it usually teaches me more than success does. Success feels so wonderful, but it fades away. Failure feels terrible but often produces something good and long lasting. Thank you. Amen.

Lord, for all the times we fail to put you at the centre of our lives, please forgive us. For all the times when we do not put our brother or sister before us, forgive us. Our selfishness and greed dismay us when we are confronted by them. Please help us to follow your example. You were rich and yet for our sakes became poor. You humbled yourself and died on a cross so that we beggars could be brought back to God. Always be at the centre of my life is my prayer. Amen

The year progresses Lord and you are still with me. With me in joy, with me in sorrow, with me in anger, with me in blessing. Thank you Lord for your constant company. You have said,"There is no way I would ever leave you." I hang on to that promise for the good days and the bad. No one is like you Lord in your constancy. You never give up on us even when it looks as if we have turned from you. You are the faithful God. Praise you. Amen.

I have thrown a word or two in your direction, Lord, throughout the day, but now as the coolness and calm of evening settle in I come to bathe in your presence. The PC hums beside me and the clock ticks relentlessly on trying to make me think of the coming tomorrow, but for this little while I will poke my head into eternity and bathe in the blissful presence of you my God. It is here that I gain the strength to go on each day. Thank you Lord for your availability. Amen.

O Lord, each gift we have in life is from you, the source of all things. Each breath we take is given by you and will one day cease to be given. Each heartbeat is regulated by you and will one day stop. Help us to live in the knowledge of these things, so that we may live our lives in a way that pleases you. Amen.

Sometimes Lord, everything seems to go wrong. Are you still with me? I believe you are, even when I cannot feel your presence. I am yours and you have promised never to leave me or forsake me. I believe your promise. I will hold onto it and carry on with my life and I know eventually you will make all things right again. Thank you that I know Jesus went through far harder times of desolation. He is my Saviour, he will bring me through. Amen.

Lord, as I step into this new day, go with me I pray. Make me a blessing to everyone I meet. Let me listen well to those who need to talk and talk well to those who need to listen. Do not let me force my opinions on others, but help me to listen and learn from theirs. I do not have all the answers, but you do. May I introduce you to those who do not know you and learn more about you from those who do know you. Let this be a profitable day in my spiritual life. Amen.

Dear Lord, in the church we enjoy each other's company, enjoy sharing the same beliefs. Please Lord send us out, out of our comfort zone to take your love to those who do not know it. May we live your love to those who need it. May we speak your words of love to those who do not know of your love. Love is meant to be spread around not kept for ourselves. Forgive us Lord of love and send us to do your will. Amen.

People need people Lord. If our light shines only in our little patch how can the light shine to others. We also need the light they have. None of us has a monopoly of your light. Lord don't let us confuse knowledge with light. Knowing things can be very dead. We need your true light to shine into every corner and light up the darkness and chase it from us. Sometimes we are afraid of your light because it shows our darkness and we cling to it. Teach us that your light will not burn us but caress us. Amen.

Lord, how do you cope with us when we whine and moan? You give us so much and yet we always want the next thing, that is just out of reach. Within our reach is your love in Jesus, but so often we ignore it and look to things. There are so many objects to tempt us, but when we get them we soon tire of them. May we take your love and forgiveness and know the deep satisfaction they bring. Amen.

Lord, I do not spend enough time with you, alone. You are the lover of my soul, I owe everthing to you and yet I spend time on trivia when I should be communing with you. Please forgive such folly and draw me close to you. Amen.

Dear Lord, Thank you for all the people who write hymns and songs to praise you. They are such a help in inspiring the rest of us to praise your name. We so often forget how great you are and then one of these hymns reminds us and helps us to praise you. Many hymn writers have been through difficult times in their lives, but this is often when you inspire them to write such helpful hymns. This is not a task that has finished, you still inspire your people to produce words and music which praise you. May we ever be thankful for the help of words and music. Amen.

Thank you Lord for good, faithful preachers reminding me of your tremendous love. When I didn't have a thought in my head for you, you came looking for me to draw me to yourself. I should have been loving you but I was not, but you still came to save me. I didn't deserve your love but still you came to show me yours. thank you Lord. Amen.

Sometimes we feel so tired, but you give us rest and set us back to do the task that needs doing. What is that task? To love you first and then to take your love to others. This is a wonderful job to be doing. We don't know when and where we will meet the people who are ready for your love, so we keep spreading it anyway. Your love is wonderful and finds us before we realise we need it. thank you Lord. Amen

Dear Lord it's been a busy day. Have I thought enough about you today? Or have I been busy with things that look important, but they have kept me from that time of silence with you. When that time with you comes it is blissful. How could anyone not long to enjoy that time with you? The peace of knowing that my creator loves me despite my sin. The one who made me who I am and understands all about me and loves me despite the wrongness which he is healing. To dwell in his presence is joy unspeakable. Amen.

Lord, tomorrow I take a Sunday service. May the words I speak to the people be your words, the message the message you want them to receive. May I always be attentive to what you are saying to me, so that I can give them the words you want them to hear. Make me strong if the message is difficult, make me tender if the message is one of comfort and love. May I be true to what you give me and deliver it with conviction. Bless the people Lord. Amen.

Thank you Lord for the service taken. a message given in your name. This is a bold claim to make, but I believe you are directing me as I pore over my sermons, wanting to give your truth to the people. Thank you that they did indeed appear to be blessed. Make us all to be a blessing to one another. Amen.

I'm tired Lord, please may I just rest in your love? I know I don't give you enough of my time, but I'm so tired now Lord. Let me rest in you and then awake tomorrow with energy renewed by you and then let me spend time in your presence praising you. Amen.

Lord, why am I so depressed? I know you are my God, so great, so powerful and my Saviour, so why am I depressed? How long must I stay in this dark pit? Will tomorrow be the same or will I have climbed out into the sunshine? It's so hard to hang on to you here in this condition. I hope you are holding onto me. Be with me even though I cannot feel you near me. Amen.

Lord, forgive us that we spend so little time with you. We have so little idea of your greatness. You have given us nature as a mirror of your greatness and yet we often just hang our heads and refuse to see the beauty and the power which are just a little reflection of your greatness. We suspect you are great and yet we do not spend time on searching out your greatness. Lead us to follow you and live your way. Show us Jesus, the only way to you. You have promised, if we search we will find. Amen.

Lord, I pray for all who read these prayers. I pray that those who know you will come closer to you and that those who do not know you will find you in Jesus and realise that you are the only one worth knowing. Help us to love you with all our heart, strength, soul and mind. You will be our God for all eternity. It is amazing that you want us when we have failed you so badly, in not loving you or our neighbour as we should. Thank you for sending Jesus to give his life so that our sins could be forgiven and we can share eternity with you. We put our faith in Jesus. Amen

Dear Lord, today may be difficult, but you will be with me. For those who have put their trust in you your promise is, "There is no way I would ever leave you, there is no way I would ever forsake you." (Hebrews 13 v. 5. My translation, the Greek is emphatic) Our human friends may let us down Lord, but you never. We can step into each day, maybe apprehensive but also with confidence, with you holding our hand. The road may not be easy, the difficulties coming fast and furious, but you are there beside us. You will bring us through. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Thank you Lord that all your children are unique. I am special and so is my neighbour. Help me to remember this and treat my neighbour with respect. Help me to remember that you made me and so to value myself. You have told me to love my neighbour as myself, so I must value myself before I can value my neighbour. When I get it wrong and sin against you help me to turn back to you quickly to ask your forgiveness. Thank you that your forgiveness is always available to those who ask for it. Amen

Lord, I am alone but help me to realise this is a time of solitude when I can learn to know you better. Help me not to fill the time with useless pastimes, when I can be spending it in your presence. When I find it difficult to concentrate in prayer let me read the Bible and in that way be closer to you. There are so many things to distract me when I should be focusing on you. Thank you for giving me this time in life when my family are independent and I can give you my time. Help me to use the time well. Amen.

Thank you Lord for teaching me that the only thing that matters is that I should love you. In Jesus you have made me free from sin. Loving you is my only purpose in life. So now all the things I worried about and feared I see are so unimportant. It does not matter if I live or die, for you are with me in all things. The illnesses I dread do not matter, for you are with me in whatever state I am. Pain does not matter, for you will eventually free me from it. Now I am free from that most crippling of things, fear. And so I am free from fear which ties me down, by worrying about things, which may never happen and are in any case ephemeral. All problems and pains are but for a moment, when compared with the coming eternity, which I will spend in your loving presence, totally accepted in Jesus. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Dear Lord, this is the day when we remember that you rose from the dead. It is the happiest day of the year because this means that God accepted your sacrifice upon the cross for our sins and we are forgiven. Hallelujah. We will be glad and rejoice even if life seems difficult. We are forgiven and on our way to heaven, to be there with you Father,Son and Holy Spirit, for all of eternity.but eternity does not have a limit. an "all" it is limitless. This is joy indeed and we thank you for this great salvation. May we live our lives in the knowledge that you are good and have provided this unique way back to you through faith in Jesus. what problem on earth can be too big to cope with when we know it is limited and we will soon be with you. Thank you Lord. Amen.

Lord, I do not ask for riches, I do not ask for fame, but just to know your presence beside me all the way. Riches and fame masquerade as something worthwhile when really they have no substance. You are dependable, constant and loving. With you beside me I can face anything that life throws at me. Your hand guides me through every peril I can meet. You will never let me down. Through the fiercest storm I can stride out, confident in your love for me. You sent Jesus to die for me, what better proof of your love could there be.There will be times when my faith is thin and I cannot feel your presence, but you will still be there, help me to hang on to that certainty. Amen.

Lord when I am to be busy remind me that I still need to spend time with you. If I cannot know you near me I will fail in what I do. Sometimes I should not be busy and I am making work for myself. Instead I should be still and know that you are God. I should only be doing the things that you want me to do. Everything else is a pointless waste of time. When I turn to you to know what I should do you will prosper what I do and bring it to fulfillment. Everything else will fail and be like the purse with holes in it which loses all the money put into it. Teacvh me this wisdom and always bring me to you when times are busy. Amen.

The darkness pulls in and drapes itself over the green hills. Quietness descends on the little village. My thoughts turn to you my God as the business of the day fades and I have yet to think of tomorrow. You are great and worthy of all my love and more. My thoughts should always be on you. Forgive me for how little time I give you. What a fool I am to spend so much time on things which do not matter, when I could sit, quiet in your eternal presence. What love you have lavished on me and yet I busy myself with triviality. You are nearer than breathing, closer than my heatbeat and yet I turn from you to fill my head with dross. Forgive me, I pray. Amen.

I pray this prayer
With grateful heart
For rain has come.
The heavenly king
Has blessed us all
With rain
For growing crops.
And so our praise
In all our days
To God should be poured forth.
Just as he has poured out the rain
To swell the grain
And grow the grass

When days are dark and rain continues to fall, may I still find my light in you ,Lord. When friends stay away and family are in their own world, may I still find in you my choicest companion. When the world is a hateful place demanding more money than I have, may I find my financial security in you Lord, the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. But when the sun shines and everyone is my best friend and the world showers accolades upon me, O Lord then please, please do not let me forget you, my only true joy and crown. Amen.

Almighty God, Hey let's just stop a minute Lord, I don't think I really know what I have just said. Almighty God, that means you can do anything, see everything, hear everything, know everything. That is awesome. I am in awe of you. Help me to understand your greatness a little more each day. You are so great and that means, if I put my trust in you, I will never have to fear anything. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Thank you that I know this and help me to remember it at all times. Amen.

Lord help me to realise that prayer does not work like a slot machine. I cannot put a prayer in and expect just what I want to come out. Praying is about finding out your will and praying that that will come about. When I realise this I will see my prayers answered often. Thy will be done. When we realise that your will is best we will be blessed in our prayer life.

Dear Lord, I sometimes despair of my fellow humans, because they ignore you so and do not give you the praise they should. But you have been so close to me for most of my life and although my praise may seem more than theirs, in reality it is very poor considering my advantages. From a child I have known you and daily read your word and yet how small my praise is. Please Lord draw out from me the praise you deserve. And make me tolerant of those who do not see, as you are tolerant. Amen.

Thank you Lord that you know all the answers. Often I behave as if I know all the answers too, but this is not so and I need to humble myself and bow to your superior knowledge. Also I need to realise that my fellow humans often have an answer when I am left confused. Give me the humility to accept help from others. Thank you that you know everything about me and yet you still love me. I am amazed. Amen.

Dear Lord, thank you for my friends who believe as I do. Thank you that we can enjoy times together where we share our love for you. But thank you also for those friends who do not yet believe or who have just started the journey to belief. May I be a help to them and not a hindrance. May I show your love and concern in all I say to them and do for them. Make me an instrument of your peace. Amen.

Lord, I am just an ordinary woman, please fill me with your Spirit, so that I can bring your word to the people. Make me gentle to give your comfort where it is needed. Make me strong to confront evil. Make me bold to tell the truth even when it hurts. Keep me faithful to you and your word. Don't let me flaunt any small talent I have or be proud in what I am doing. May Jesus be honoured and myself forgotten. Bless your people this day, I pray. Amen.

Lord, why do we humans find it so difficult to wait? We want everything now, but we can't have that. You have ordained things so that they are better when we wait for them. We cannot cope with everything now. You are everywhere at all times, but we are restricted to time and wait we must. We must restrain our impatience for very soon the thing waited for will come in your good time. Amen.

Dear Lord we spend so much time asking you for the things we want in our lives, but do not give enough thanks when you answer. In fact many things we enjoy you give us without us even asking. And so I want to show a bit of gratitude and thank you for the many wonderful things I experience in my life. Thank you that you have given me my life. My body is a wonder of engineering with each organ complementing the next, all working together in harmony. You have given me a life already long and blessed me with wonderful friends and family. How easy it is to take these people for granted. You have put me in wonderful countryside which thrills my eyes to behold. Thank you Lord. Thank you most of all that you gave me parents who believed in you and taught me about you. Thank you for making me aware of you and being with me each moment of the day. Thank you for every chance to tell others about you, so that they too might know the wonder of knowing God. Amen.

Jesus once told a story about praying. He said there were two men who went up to the temple to pray. One was a religious leader, full of pride in his postion in life. He thanked God for all the good religious things he, the man had done and especially thanked God that he was not like the rogue who was praying near him. The other man was indeed a rogue, but he repented before God and asked God to have mercy on him ,because he knew he was no good. Jesus left his hearers to decide which one God listened to. Jesus often left his hearers to decide what he meant, he didn't spoon feed them.